A Movie A Day: IT’S A MAD MAD MAD MAD WORLD (1963) I’m not entirely certain you haven’t damaged this machine!

Ahoy, squirts! Quint here with today’s installment of A Movie A Day.
[For those now joining us, A Movie A Day is my attempt at filling in gaps in my film knowledge. My DVD collection is thousands strong, many of them films I haven’t seen yet, but picked up as I scoured used DVD stores. Each day I’ll pull a previously unseen film from my collection or from my DVR and discuss it here. Each movie will have some sort of connection to the one before it, be it cast or crew member.]
So here’s my challenge. I spent 2 hours and 41 minutes watching this film after having woken up at nearly 11pm (I’m on a fucked up sleep schedule right now if you couldn’t tell) and now I have to get my review written up in as timely a manner as I can so Thursday’s AMAD doesn’t post well into Friday morning.
And I have a whole lot I want to discuss with this movie. So here’s hoping the below comes out reading somewhat rational and not the early morning rushed ramblings of a guy trying to say a whole lot as fast as he can.
Where the hell do you start with this movie?

The plot is incredibly simple though the situations and slapstick gets incredibly complex. A dying man tells a group of 5 strangers he buried $350,000 in a park 200 miles from them and the other 2 hours and 20 minutes of the film is the mad-cap dash to this park, every man (and woman) for himself (or herself) and more and more joining in the rush before the end.
Spencer Tracy plays Capt. Culpepper, who has been trying to track down this money for 15 years and finally knows all he has to do is sit back and watch these fools as they race across California and they will lead him to the money.
Jimmy Durante kicks all this off, starting the movie weaving across a twisty highway, passing cars at dangerous speeds. He flies off the road (or “sails” as Sid Caeser keeps saying) in a spectacular crash of metal, glass and rubber. Five people run down to see if he’s okay.
These people are Sid Caeser (who we follow over from yesterday’s misfire William Castle comedy THE BUSY BODY), Milton Berle, Jonathan Winters, Mickey Rooney and Buddy Hackett, leaving wives and mothers-in-law up with the cars.

Durante tells them all that there’s $350,000 buried under a giant W in Santa Rosita Park, 200 miles away before he kicks the bucket… both literally and metaphorically speaking.
These five, average, nice people keep this information from the cops and start to drive away, but they notice no one is letting the others out of sight. Of course the wives are told, including Edie Adams and the gorgeous Dorothy Provine as well as one of the highlights of the movie, the bitchy, harping mother-in-law, Mrs. Marcus, played by Ethel Merman.

They pull over and decide to try to talk it out, but no matter how many ways they figure it someone feels short changed… should only the 5 people who heard it get a share? Or everybody, including the wives and mother-in-law? Jonathan Winter is always fucked over because he was traveling alone, so his share is less than everybody else’s…
Slowly the realize it’s every man for himself and half an hour into the movie it becomes a crazy chase movie as everybody is doing whatever they can for an edge on the others… which, naturally, resorts in everybody getting fucked over, usually multiple times, over the course of the movie.
Lots of cars wrecked, lots of rides thumbed (which brings in more and more characters hunting for this buried treasure as people like Terry-Thomas, Phil Silvers, Dick Shawn, Jim Backus, Peter Falk and Don Knotts pop in and out of the chase), some planes hired, cars stolen, gas stations demolished, cars drowned, small children’s bicycles ridden and hardware stores blown up.
I loved everybody in this movie, but I have to highlight a few individuals.
I thought I was a Jonathan Winters fan before I saw this movie and then I realized I had no real idea just how fucking awesome he is. It was about the time he was hulking out in the gas station, tearing it apart beam by beam, punching through walls, trying to kill a pair of bumbling mechanics who unwittingly helped fuck Winters over that I really fell in love with this movie.

It’s a ri-goddamn-diculous scene, but I love random, over-the-top humor so much and seeing Winters go nuts really did just put me over the top with this movie.
As much as I love Winters he might have to fight with the corpse of Buddy Hackett for my affections. I love Buddy Hackett’s schtick. I’m sure it annoys the piss out of some people, but not me. His voice, his attitude, his wonky eye… just all works for me.

Buddy is perfectly teamed in this movie with Mickey Rooney, another big personality and one that I have a lot of nostalgia for. I’ve seen precious little of his early work with Judy Garland, but I grew up with ‘70s and ‘80s stuff, with a particular love for PETE’S DRAGON where he plays a drunk lighthouse keeper. In fact, Jim Backus, who plays the mayor of Passamaquoddy in Pete’s Dragon, plays a boozer friend of Rooney’s in this movie.
Backus can’t stop drinking even when he’s supposed to be flying a jet, leaving Buddy at the controls in one of my favorite segments in the flick.
Everybody is great in this movie, especially the leads. Terry-Thomas is hilarious as a proper British flower collector who picks up Milton Berle, his wife (Provine) and mother-in-law Ethel Merman early in the flick and becomes one of the main people chasing down the money. He has a great fight with Berle over which country is better, America or Britain, that had me laughing out loud… especially Thomas’ assertion that America is obsessed with bosoms and if women ever stopped wearing bras then the American economy would fail.

There are cameo appearances by everybody from Buster Keaton to the The Three Stooges to Jerry Lewis (perhaps my favorite cameo, where he goes out of his way to drive over Spencer Tracy’s hat) to Jack Benny (my second favorite cameo as he stops to offer help and is verbally assaulted by Ethel Merman… and his face just drops)… pretty much anybody who was funny between 1900 and 1963 that was still alive and willing to work is in this movie.
The filmmaking is top notch as well as the comedy in front of the camera. Shot in animorphic widescreen and in beautiful Technicolor, this flick really does feel epic. Do I think it needs to be 2 hours and 41 minutes? No, not really. There was probably half an hour that could have been cut from the movie and it wouldn’t have been too tragic, but there is something to the brisk, but assured pace that doesn’t falter that really does give this film its unique identity.
In fact, one piece of trivia about this flick is that it was the first film to premiere at the Cineramadome in Los Angeles. Pretty sweet, huh?
Final Thoughts: Director Stanley Kramer had a Herculean task here, juggling some of entertainment’s funniest personalities without short-changing anybody and he does a spectacular job, aided by a great and fun script by William and Tania Rose. From the opening credits, designed by the great Saul Bass, to the closing scene I was invested and laughing along, some 45 years after this film was initially released. If you haven’t yet given it a watch, do yourself a favor and set aside some time over the holidays and give it a spin.

Here’s what we have lined up for the next week:
Friday, November 7th: LIBELED LADY (1936)

Saturday, November 8th: UP THE RIVER (1930)

Sunday, November 9th: DOCTOR BULL (1933)

Monday, November 10th: JUDGE PRIEST (1930)

Tuesday, November 11th: TEN LITTLE INDIANS (1965)

Wednesday, November 12th: MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS (1974)

Thursday, November 13th: DANIEL (1983)

There, I did it! And I have enough time to get some ducks in a row before I go out and buy GEARS OF WAR 2 and lose myself in it for the rest of the day… I know I should be doing more work instead, but… Wait… I’m just doing some research for the Holiday Gift Guide! That’s it! I am working! I swear! (PS If you haven’t already, send me in some suggestions on what you’re looking forward to this year… stuff you’d like to see make an appearance in the Holiday Gift Guide! I’ve gotten some great suggestions so far… I think it’s going to be a great one this year, but there’s always room for more!)
Next time we jump back to 1936’s LIBELED LADY, following Spencer Tracy. See you folks then!
-Quint
quint@aintitcool.com

Always enjoy watching this one. Much better than Rat Race IMO. There's been talk of the Kramer family trying to put a sequel together...with modern day all star cast, in addition to the surviving actors of the first film. Don't think it will ever get made though.

I think I was 8 when I saw this on Movie Greats. I loved it then. I've not seen it since. I have no doubt it is a different movie as an adult, but probably one people can watch with their children. I bet any adult jokes just went directly over my head.
<p> And I LOVE Terry Thomas. If you've not seen he and Jack Lemmon in "How to Murder your Wife" it is highly recommended you do so.

I'll probably be the only one but... Caught this on cable a few months ago and made my wife watch it. Saw it when I was 7 or something and loved it. But I have to say, this time around I found it pretty unwatchable. So much mugging and laziness. Bonk!

Everytime it was on tV I missed it. (I was able to catch the last 3 minutes of it one day!) I bought the DVD a few months ago. Haven't watched it yet. If I will ever find the time for MY movie a day, this will be the first.

The ending was perfect. All their woes and problems were simply resolved by laughter. It was a silly slapstick moment, but that's what made it such a wonderful touching ending. Kind of like the film Sullivan's Travels was talking about.

not knowing anything about "widescreen" back then but knowing something is really fucked up. People and jokes would be completely cropped out on some showings or they would be squeezed into a small space and everyone would be really skinny.

Glad you finally saw this one Quint, welcome aboard. I've loved this movie for years and years, and it still holds up. Yes there's tons of mugging and craziness but it's light years better than any of the Adam Sandler/Will Ferrell crap that passes for comedy these days. The script is well constructed and even at the length, it never really lags. There are SO many brilliant moments here, it should be required viewing for anyone who says they're a movie buff...you have not seen comedy until you've seen this. If only MGM would go back and release the 181 minute version on DVD , it would be heaven! And yes, Shawn ruled the film lol.

and it's still funny today, the end in particular is a riot! Sid Ceaser is priceless in this film and Spencer Tracy is GOLD. Mickey Rooney and his bunch in the airplane is another hilarious sequence from a film filled to the brim with the most craziest sequences ever! Ethel Murmen and Johnathan Winters are at their greatest in this movie, everyone should see it at least twice!

Probably one of the best write-ups that I've ever read about this film. This is the kind of movie that would be darn nearly impossible to make these days. The scene where Jonathan Winters tears apart the gas station (right after it first open for business!) with his bare hands is one of the most over the top funny moments in cinema history. It's a wonder nobody got KILLED going after the money!

I remember seeing this for the first time when I was six years old on the ABC Sunday Night Movie around '77-78. It was the first time I ever remember laughing so hard that I couldn't breathe. Thirty years later, it's still one of my all-time favorites. It's just sheer silliness from beginning to end and one of those rare movies that has a bare sliver of a plot, yet it works anyway. Only a filmmaker like Stanley Kubrick and a cast like that could pull it off. Fun fact - Stan Laurel was offered a cameo, but he turned it down, keeping his vow never to work after the death of Oliver Hardy.

The plot point has been used to death, but never so good as it has been on this one. Maybe it's the "several stars doing cameo" gimmick, or Spencer Tracy - who brings this whole thing to a who different level. The firefighter ladder at the end is one of my favorite scenes, even though it looks dated. And boy, this movie does look dated, but it's good nonetheless. I think you're right, it doesn't have to be 3 hours long, but don't you want to see everything? Plus, it has Milton Berle VERY gently telling Ethel Merman to stick a plant up her anus! And it's such a quotable film as well! And the theme song is still remembered even after all these years... Well, enough for now. One of my favorite films from the ones you've had on your list. Well done.

If you want a solid double feature, watch this one and "The Great Race" with Tony Curtis, Jack Lemon, and Natalie Wood. Peerless performance by Lemon on it. Wasn't the black cabbie somebody famous too? You know, Peter Faulk's cohort?<p>Dick Shawn is superb, but he's even better in the original Producers with Zero Mastel and Gene Wilder. Now THAT's a must see.

Sans widescreen,you lose one of the Stooges in their cameo (as firemen, standing shoulder-to-shoulder; airport scene). And don't forget Arnold Stang ('60s supergeek who subsequntly developed a homoerotic crush on that other Arnold [Schwarzenegger] in HERCULES IN NEW YORK). Unfortunately, most of Buster Keaton's "business" was trimmed from the movie.

I didn't want to move to California!"
Stan Laurel was offered a cameo? Dman, I'd cut off a thumb if he would have eapproved. But I understand his resistance (sans Ollie): that's true (non-Holywood) bonding. Peter Falk is a lot of fun as a loud-mouth cabbie, ditto the great Phil Silvers. And watch for "Bowery Boy" Leo Gorcey's cameo as another cabbie (where was Huntz Hall?).

Each one altered slightly from the other. You had to see it on both networks in order to see the biggest chunk. It would be shown on New Years Eve and we'd have eggnog and brandy (and I was just a kid)! Still THE BEST comedy ever made p-e-r-i-o-d.

Bilko is a comic performance of Herculean stature! Nat hiken was constantly amazed by Silvers and Bilko is the only truly timeless sitcom! You can knock many things but Silvers was way above Hackett and Rooney, frigging genius. Jack Benny rated Him. I rest my case.(and if anyone want to start on jack benny it's pistols at dawn)

but it seems that calling Great Race subpar compared to MMMMW is kind of ridiculous? MMMMW is one of the most famous and highly regarded comedies ever made. I'm fine with the fact that it might be better than Great Race (which is one of my personal favorites) but I don't think declaring MMMMW to be "average" is exactly fair.

Mostly the pace - yes, it moves slower than MMMMW - Jack Lemmon's villain is the basis for Dick Dastardly, but it doesn't play too well, it's too farcical, and his double-role is unnecessary. The slapstick seems forced. And the end is such an anticlimax...

I saw at the Cinedome when I was 6. When Jonathan Winters demolished the service station, it's the only time in my life I literally fell out of my chair laughing. How can you not love a movie with the power to do that? How about Terry-Thomas' flip (or at least his stuntman's) over the bridge, thanks to Dick Shawn? Hilarious. And if you think this version is long, it originally clocked in at 192 minutes. It was a "roadshow" version with an intermission. If you went to the restroom during the break, the sound system in the lavatories were playing police broadcasts reporting on the progress of the various miscreants. Some of us hope this version and those audio recordings will still turn up.

Melvin Crump was originally supposed to be played by Ernie Kovacs opposite his real-life wife Edie Adams, but he was killed in a car accident. Also, Ethel Merman's mother-in-law was originally supposed to be a father-in-law played by Groucho Marx.

My big problem with the movie was the way in which it crammed tons of people into the film just for the sake of being seen. My least favorite cameo was the 3 Stooges with Curly Joe, if only because there was no nostalgia in a moment where the celebrated hero of comedy was the 3rd or 4th stand in for the original stooge, depending on if you start counting with Shemp or with Curly

as it was meant to be seen! god it was great. there has never been a comedy as epic as this before or since. it's just pure hilarity. Phil Silvers gets my personal vote for funniest bastard in the film, but Sid Caeser is great as well. <p>one line in the airplane scene made the entire theater laugh so hard, we all missed the next couple lines.<p>Rooney passes the headphones to Hackett, and says they want to talk to him, and hackett goes, "what, am I supposed to everything? You want me to fly the airplane, you want me to work the radio, what are you, the hostess?"<p>so funny! this is truly a great GREAT movie, and up there with The Russians are Coming as one of the greats from that era...<p>Quint, you gotta get that on your list if it isn't already...contains some of the best lines EVER!<p>"I am wounded in dignity only."

seriously too much good stuff for me to respond in this post. All the cameos, so many that it's just fun to watch how many people you can identify! And Jonathan FREAKIN' Williams, man! At the end when it dawns on him that he's found it, that look of his into the camera, almost like his brain said HEY STUPID, TURN AROUND!<BR>BR> And one of the best lines: "Listen, you don't have to explain your mother-in-law to me, know what I mean? I mean if she was the star of some really crummy horror movie, I'd believe it!"

Classic film from my youth. From the physical insanity of Jonathan Winter to the sad-sackness of Sid Cesar to the stoned goofiness of Dick Shawn ("I'm coming mama!" is one oft-repeated lines in our house) to the verbal eviscerations of Ethel Merman (God what magnificent BITCH she is in the movie!), its a wonderful movie to laugh at. But for all of those greats, its Spencer Tracy who has the hardest part-the Straight Man. He's what holds this film together. Glad you liked i Quint.

AMC runs a version of this movie that is quite different from the DVD (much to my dismay). Wikipedia has a pretty good page about the movie: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It%27s_a_mad,_mad,_mad,_mad_world

I loved this movie ever since I saw it on the giant screen in its original Manhattan run. Still do. The only thing that depresses me is when I watch it I invariably go "Dead...dead...alive...dead...dead..dead...alive...dead...dead..." and now we just lost Edie Adams. There will never be another one like IAMMMMW.

...where Jonathan Winters "hulks out" and destroys it with his bare hands is one of the funniest things ever committed to film, period. ("He's nuts, he's really nuts!" "We're gonna have to KILL HIM!") Yep, the film is too long, but damn, it's got so many hilarious moments and endlessly quotable bits of dialogue that you have to love it. (And as I said in another talkback, the first appearance of Dick Shawn, where he just leaps into the scene like a madman, is freaking HILARIOUS!) If you've never seen this movie, set aside 3 hours, pop some popcorn and enjoy!

Just the title brings back fond memories. Seeing this movie with my brother & sister during its original run & laughing so long and hard that we were hoarse the next day. The Jerry Lewis cameo was brutal & priceless. Then just when you think you can't laugh anymore without seriously hurting something, along comes the ladder scene. Good times, the only other times I've laughed as hard at the movies was seeing Blazing Saddles with my mom (she worshiped Harvey Korman), and Richard Pryor's first concert movie (which was preceded by a 3 Stooges short). Comic gold all.

Next to Animal House and Blazing Saddles. It is a bit too long (should have cut the basement scene by a few minutes), but it is fantastic even in its length. Tracy was God. We will never have a better actor in comedy or drama.

I absolutely LOVE this movie! One of my all time favorites. We will never see a movie like this again. It would be impossible to make today because part of the charm of this movie is that every major comedian of the day was in this film. It was a Who's Who of cinematic comedy. With today's multi million dollar salaries that today's actors command and add to that 7 or 8 obligatory rewrites of today's Hollywood and you would have a budget beyond comprehension. Also, how many of today's actors with bloated egos would agree to only a cameo. The days of this kind of event picture are over.

Just thinking about the who's who of comedy nature, I was trying to think of comedians of today. Who would we have? Louis CK, Ricky Gervais, Steve Carrell, Patton Oswalt, Dave Chapelle, Bob Saget, Lisa Lampanelli, Brian Posehn, Jeffrey Ross, Sarah Silverman, Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, the daily show team, Jim Carrey, Jack Black, Seth Rogen, Craig Robertson, Michael Cera, Jonah Hill, Jason Segel... who am I forgetting? We missed the opportunity to get people like George Carlin in, but he would have been a natural. Don Rickles is still kicking around, he'd be pretty awesome...

Yes, the legendary "King Kong"
animator worked uncredited on the
film's effects...mostly on the spectacular finale which apparently involved extensive minature work.
Also, I think "Mad World" was the first Cinerama film shot in a one-camera process...ditching the cumbersome procedure of using three in-synch cameras, which then
required 3 in-synch projectors..which is why you can still see the dividing lines on "How The West Was Won".

Really important to note about Mad Mad World: The climactic scene with all the cast hanging on to a wildly swinging fireman's ladder was ANIMATED by none other than WILLIS O'BRIEN, after which he went home, laid down on his livingroom sofa and died. The father of Kong's final contribution to cinema.

a sad bit of trivia is that the wildly talented Terry Thomas was found very near the end of his life in a cold water flat penniless, ragged and unkempt and suffering from advanced Parkinson's disease. Entertainers including Elton John led an effort to raise money for the actor's care. Good on them.

..even THEY pay taxes. Now look, if it wasn't for all the millions of dollars this country gave yours, which you never even bothered to say thank you for, the whole phoney outfit would have sunk beneath the ocean years ago. GET OUT!!

most recently by rat race, which was a rip on both this movie and cannonball run...so no, dont do a sequel or a remake...and this movie is best when watched on widescreen...saw it in its remade print at the cinerama dome...totally brilliant

You're right, actually. It's the only Mel Brooks film I haven't seen. I've been meaning to get to it for a while... guess I should sniff it out and throw it on the pile.<BR><BR>mooli, right... that was right in front of me! Of course, those guys should be top of the heap.

That's pretty much all I remember--he totalled that place. I remember thinking I wanted to be that brutally strong, which is kind of funny, because I ended up (physically speaking) more like the wimpy-looking gas station attendants than like any sort of strongman.

..then I don't think he's gonna say anything, and I KNOW he's not gonna say anything, and I'M not gonna say anything...Awww, this is a little girl's bike, this bike is for a little girl...why don't you get that bike out of the way, you know we don't want someone tripping over it in the dark...ZZZOOOMMM! I love this friggin' movie, practically every line is a quotable.

"Go ahead... I'm gullible!" This can only be appreciated in a theater. Saw it at both The Egyptian for an cast reunion and The Cinerama Dome for an anniversary... both times was awesome.
Except for Mickey Rooney at the reunion. Went on and on for years talking about his career, virtually reprising Dana Carvey's impression of him. That part was tough.

--Don't forget Eddie "Rodchester" Anderson as a cabbie (collapsing into the arms of the park's Lincoln statue). A wonderful talent (I think I'm the only bloke on this site who has seen CABIN IN THE SKY).

Introduced me to comedy. What happened to Scavenger Hunt? I'm sure it was funnier to me when I was 7 than it would be to me now when I'm....older. But It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad Mad World is still great. I've often wondered about a round up movie with everyone who is or ever was funny and willing to work. I doubt it is remotely possible anymore to have so many personalities take part, if nothing else ego would always get in the way. But Quint, I don't think that in your imagining a current update that you should omit comedic talents like Eddie Murphy, Billy Crystal, Dan Aykroyd, Gene Wilder, Mel Brooks, Carol Burnett, Bill Murray, Tina Fey, Bette Middler, Lily Tomlin, John Goodman, Goldie Hawn, Margaret Cho, Robin Williams, Albert Brooks, the Casts of Frasier and Cheers, Wanda Sykes, the cast of Seinfeld, Ben Stiller, the Three Amigos (Chase, Martin, and Short), Whoopi Goldberg, remaining cast of MASH, Cheech and Chong, Roseanne...tons of people who are or at least were once funny. I'm afraid that excluding any of them that are interested would be elitist, choosing only one person's favorites and ignoring a lot of other tastes. I'm not that big a fan of the Appatow bunch outside of Freaks and Geeks (I often debate who is more overrated, Jack Black or Seth Rogen), but I can't ignore that they bring the funny for many.

I thought it was hilarious for about 90 minutes. Problem is, it still had another 80 minutes to go, and it ended up feeling like an endurance test. I can think of very few comedies that can justify a 174 minute running time, but I could list endlessly the ones that drag too long. For some reason, you just can't sustain comedy (especially zany, slapstick like this) for this long. It becomes exhausting. I had hoped it was mercifully over when they found the big W, but no... it had so much more zanyness to go. Too big, too ambitious, too many stars with big egos whose scenes can't be cut. Would have been great at 100 minutes. Sadly, that's about the halfway point.